


Long Live

by top_me_daenerys



Series: Taylor Swift Songfics [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Catra and Adora have lil bbys, Catra's a storyteller, F/F, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Mostly Fluff, Night Terrors, mentions of child abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:48:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24419914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/top_me_daenerys/pseuds/top_me_daenerys
Summary: When Adora and Catra's children wake up because of a nightmare,Catra decides it's a great time to tell them a story about how their moms defeated an evil alien.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Series: Taylor Swift Songfics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1756546
Comments: 18
Kudos: 168





	Long Live

It was over. 

All of it was over. Catra thought as she leaned her forehead against Adora’s shoulder, her wife slowly swaying her to the beat of an invisible song as they stood in the middle of their bedroom. Her skin was sweaty like it always was after a night terror. She took deep breaths into her wife’s shoulder, absorbing herself in Adora’s scent. 

The quiet sound of two sets of small footsteps made Catra lift her head up. The door creaked open and a set of pure blue cat eyes and a set of golden yellow cat eyes peered into the room. She could see the tears in the kittens’ eyes. “Looks like everyone was having nightmares tonight.” Catra murmured, causing Adora to turn around her eyes softening when they landed on her daughters’ faces. 

“Mara, C’yra,” both girls shuffled into the room. Mara was a little over a year older (almost five) than her sister and stood a few inches taller than her, with long, wild, golden hair and fur that matched her eyes. C’yra, named after Catra’s biological mother, had darker hair that wasn’t as wild or tangled as her sister’s and her mom’s. She a slightly more orange tint to her fur. Her pale blue eyes popped against her darker complexion. “Come here little ones.” Catra, begrudgingly, pulled away from her wife to sit on the bed, patting the spot next to her as a clear gesture to her kittens that they were welcome on the bed. Both girls sprinted toward their mother on the bed, tears streaming down their faces as they launched themselves into Catra’s embrace. Adora quietly shut the door before making her way to the bed, taking her place behind Catra, her chin placed on her wife’s shoulder, looking down at her terrified children with empathy. 

“What’s wrong babies?” Adora spoke first. C’yra sniffled, rubbing her eyes, “I had bad dream.” Catra leaned over and kissed the top of her youngest daughter’s head, “Did you have a bad dream, too, Mara?” The older child shook her head, “C’yra was crying.” Catra’s heart lurched at Mara’s words. Her oldest daughter was so much like her wife, a protector, someone who pushed their feelings to the side in a crisis. She could remember countless times in the Horde where she would wake up after a nightmare to Adora crying because she was scared. Adora must’ve been thinking the same thing, leaning into Catra slightly to press a light kiss on her neck. 

“What was your dream about C’yra?” Adora spoke softly, the same tone that she used with Catra earlier. Another round of tears leaked from the kitten’s eyes as she whined ducking her head down deeper into Catra’s stomach. There was a muffled reply but neither Catra nor Adora could make out what was said. “What was that, kitten?” Catra asked gently. 

“Picture,” C’yra whimpered out. Both Adora and Catra winced at the admission. The picture in question that was causing C’yra’s lack of sleep was an old, old picture of Adora, Catra and Shadow Weaver that the girls had found tucked into the back of one of the drawers in her parent’s room. It was an old, torn up thing. Something Adora knew she should’ve thrown away when she had the chance. It was a terrifying picture. Adora and Catra looked miserable, Catra was sporting a large bruise on half her face, Adora was flinching back as Shadow Weaver pointed an accusatory finger at her. Another Force Captain had taken the picture and given it to Adora as a reminder of her failure. It was something Adora kept tucked away in pockets, drawers, bags, for years to remind her of her failures. 

Catra hadn’t known about it until the girls came crying to her, showing it to her. She was angry at first. She made the girls go play in their room while she confronted Adora about it. Adora was angry, defensive until she wasn’t. Until she was on the ground sobbing and Catra forgot all about the picture and held her wife while she broke down explaining her reasons for keeping it. 

They burned it in the fire that night. 

They also had to explain in simple words what was going on in the picture to their daughters. 

And now they, too, were having nightmares about Shadow Weaver. Though Catra doubted they were as vivid as her own or Adora’s and she was thankful for that. 

“It’s okay baby,” Catra adjusted herself, hugging C’yra to her chest while Mara was contently curled up in between her and Adora, “I’m here, I’ll protect you. Mama’s here, she’s gonna protect you.” Mara’s small voice squeaked out, “I’ll protect you.” Catra smiled, her claws lightly scratching the back of C’yra’s head, “Did you hear that? Mara’s gonna protect you, too.” She felt her youngest daughter relax into her. 

The family stayed like for a while. Adora was rubbing Mara’s head while Catra whispered comforting words into C’yra’s ear. 

“Do you guys want to hear a story?” Catra asked, suddenly. Mara and C’yra’s heads perked up. Adora narrowed her eyes at Catra. “A story?” Mara sat up quickly, almost bumping heads with Adora. Catra’s eyes carried a familiar gleam of mischief as she locked eyes with Adora, “mmhm, the story of how your mom and I defeated an evil alien,” C’yra’s eyes widened, her mouth wide open. “Catra... “ Adora started but was cut off by Mara excitedly jumping up and down in her lap. “Yes, yes, yes!” 

“Well… our story starts a long long time ago…”

***

 _Catra was scared._

_She was pinned to the ground by Horde Prime’s clones. She didn’t struggle, she was ready to give up. Her body was limp letting them rough her up. Glimmer had just disappeared in a bright beam of light--_

***

“Aunt Glimmer was there?” Mara asked, her eyes wide, focused solely on her mother. Catra rolled her eyes, “Yes Sparkles was there, now lemme finish the story. 

Adora’s eyes were watching her carefully, but there was slight amusement sparkling in the bright blue, so Catra continued.

***

_The evil clones took Catra away. She was so tired she didn’t remember most of it. All she knew was pain. However, she could remember Horde Prime’s evil gaze as the chip was inserted into the back of her neck._

_And then Adora did the stupidest thing she could’ve done, came to rescue her._

_Under the control of Horde Prime, Catra remembered bits and pieces of her and Adora’s battle. She could remember vividly the way Adora’s eyes were filled with distress and concern when she was electrocuted by the chip and fell seemingly to her death._

_But Adora jumped down after her. Held her close to her chest as the clones surrounded them and Catra let out slow shaky breaths._

_In a pang of bright, blinding light, Adora shifted into She-Ra and pop, pop, pop--_

***

“Pop, pop, pop,” Catra imitated Adora as She-Ra, attacking all of the clones. Mara was stood tall on the bed, her tail flicking back and forth in anticipation, hitting Adora in the face each time. C’yra had been moved off to the side so she wouldn’t be hit by one of her mother’s fake punches. 

The youngest kitten was curled up in Adora’s side, her face filled with awe. 

***

_Pop, pop, pop!_

_All the clones were down and Adora carried Catra back to the ship. For a moment, Adora thought Catra was dead. Glimmer and Bow were crying, looking down at her oldest friend. But She-Ra started to sparkle, healing all of Catra’s injuries._

_And Adora cried, hard when she heard Catra’s voice._

_On the way back they found Melog on the plant of Krytis--_

***

“Melog!!” C’yra squeaked, excitedly looking around for the alien cat. Sure enough, when Melog heard one of their favorite kitten’s voices, they perked up from their bed in the corner of the room. They slinked along the room until they, too, were on Catra and Adora’s bed. They curled up around Adora, C’yra, and Mara, placing their head in C’yra’s lap and their tail wrapped around Mara. The watch Catra with amused, eyes.

Catra who was stood in the middle of the room, acting out every little scene. 

***

__

__

_When they landed back down on Etheria, they had to act face and save their friends who had been chipped by Horde Prime. The sediment grew even stronger when they realized that the chip, if connected to someone for too long, would slowly start to infect their nervous system._

_It took a lot for Catra and Adora to fight their friends who had been chipped, but they had to do it to protect them, to save the world._

_They, also, learned that there was a failsafe for the heart of Etheria, something that would destroy it before Horde Prime could get his greedy hands on it. But time was running low._

_When they went to Mystacor to search for the failsafe, Adora started to convince herself that she would have to be the one to bear the pain of destroying the heart, even if it destroyed her in the process. The last straw was Shadow Weaver’s nagging in the back of her mind._

***

C’yra shivered beside Adora at the mention of the failsafe and Shadow Weaver

Adora just reached down and quietly rubbed her back.

***

 _Catra had to get away. She couldn’t watch Adora sacrifice herself like that, be selfless and not care for her own wellbeing. Until she watched Horde Prime start to drill into the center of the plant, trying to infect the heart. Then, things became real for her._

_She was desperate to find Adora to the point were she asked Shadow Weaver for help._

_When Catra was able to finally find Adora, hold her safe in her arms, it felt like they had won._

_Like she had won._

_Until she noticed the sickly green veins that were running up Adora’s body._

_Until Adora told her that she wasn’t planning on coming back. That she wasn’t able to transform._

_She tried to get Catra away. She didn’t want the other girl to get hurt._

_But Catra was stubborn. She wouldn’t leave. She dropped to her knees and held Adora when she was weakened enough to not be able to bear her own weight._

_She held Adora as close as possible and pleaded with her to live, to stay. Not even caring that Horde Prime’s infection was all around them, was cursing through Adora’s veins._

_And then she told Adora she loved her--_

***

Mara gasped. 

“You told mom you loved her??” The blonde girl’s eyes were big, her hands clasped together. Catra smirked and nodded. 

“And then,” Catra paused for dramatic effect, Adora rolled her eyes--already knowing what was coming. “I kissed her… Like this!!” Catra pounced on Adora, connecting their lips in a hard kiss. Melog made a displeased noise, turning their head away from the couple. 

“Ewwww!! Mama and Mommy are kissing!” Mara exclaimed, blowing a raspberry at her parents and hopping off the bed. 

“What happen? What happen?” C’yra cried out, wanting to know the end of the story. 

Catra pulled away from her wife and reached out, picking C’yra up. “Well, baby…”

***

__

__

_They had saved the world._

_Etheria was safe._

_Catra had almost everything she had every wanted laying right beside her._

_In the days after Horde Prime’s defeat, there were great celebrations. Thousands of people screaming “Long Live Etheria!” Catra’s favorite part was holding Adora as the celebrations rang out. Studying her lover’s face as the kingdom’s lights shined, seeming just for them. The way Adora held her head like the hero she was, it was the start of an age of peace._

_And for a moment, a pair of orphaned Horde soldiers got to rule the world._

***

When Catra finished the story, both C’yra and Mara seemed to be drifting off to sleep. C’yra’s face was smooshed into Adora’s side while Mara was sat in her mother’s lap, her head leaned back, resting against Adora’s chest. Melog was still wide awake, their head in C’yra’s lap still. 

“Alright my kittens,” Catra spoke in a hushed tone, “I think it’s time for you to go night-night.” Mara let out a groan in disagreement. 

“You two can stay with mama and mommy tonight,” Adora said, “but we’re getting up early in the morning to go see Aunt Glimmer, Uncle Bow, and cousin Sparkles, okay?” The only sound was C’yra’s light snores against Adora’s nightshirt and Mara’s slowing breathing. 

Catra carefully maneuvered her children so they were in between her and Adora, Melog hopped off the bed to go back to their own bed in the corner. 

With an arm firmly draped across both her daughters and her fingers entangled in Adora’s, Catra felt herself drifting off to sleep with a smile on her face. 

It was all over. 

A new era had begun.


End file.
